Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old man accused – extremely credibly – of murdering our friend Charlie Kirk on September 10, made his first court appearance in Provo, Utah, on Thursday. He had only appeared virtually for previous hearings.
He was allowed to wear civilian gear, not a prison jumpsuit, in order to protect his presumption of innocence. There are obviously no jurors yet (this trial won’t take place until, tentatively, January 2027), but he was on camera and they don’t want to taint the jury pool. So, he gets to stand there like some sort of upstanding citizen in his blue button down shirt and tie.
He was all smiles because, I guess, he is feeling joyful. Maybe he is feeling like he is going to get away with it. I don’t know what he’s thinking. I do care about that, but I don’t care about his well being.
Robinson’s Parents
His parents sat in the front row, and his mother was crying. I am sorry that she is sad, and I am sorry she raised a killer. I have some empathy for the parents, but not for him whatsoever.
The parents, for the record, did the right thing. When they recognized their son from the pictures that were released of the crime scene by the FBI within the hours after Charlie was murdered and they recognized the picture of the gun that the FBI released, they contacted him. They were the ones who identified their own son as having been the person in the photos and that having been the gun that his grandfather gave to him.
They contacted their son, asking where he was. They eventually figured out that it was him. He reportedly confessed to his parents, who then brought in a family friend who was both a pastor and connected with law enforcement to convince Tyler Robinson to turn himself in. That is what happened. That is how this went down. That is why, among other reasons, he was arrested.
In addition to confessing to his parents, Robinson confessed to his ‘Transtifa’ lover in text messages that, I grant you, sound odd. They sound a little pre-scripted, but that does not lead sane people to believe this was the FBI creating a false dialogue. But possibly these two freaks – Tyler Robinson and his ‘Transtifa’ boyfriend – created a false dialogue to, in my view, at best, try to exonerate the boyfriend, Lance Twiggs, from knowing about this thing in advance.
I believe he knew in advance, and I believe his weird, trans, furry community knew in advance and some couldn’t keep their mouth shut and started spewing online about, ‘Wait until September 10’ and then, when Charlie was murdered, went back online to say, ‘See, I told you.’
The Justice System
I would love to know where things stand with that piece of the investigation, but because I am a sane person who understands the law. I also know that the FBI does not run around updating its investigation and releasing the very latest on what they found. People who are demanding that the FBI or Department of Justice do so do not know anything about law enforcement.
Some of us have been covering in-depth legal cases and matters and have even tried cases and matters for years. That is how I have spent the past 30-plus years of my life – trying cases involved in the legal system as a trial attorney, then a Supreme Court correspondent covering civil and criminal cases, then as a legal correspondent for Fox News, legal commentator for Fox News, and ever thereafter.
And let me tell you something: The FBI does not run around updating its information after somebody gets indicted. It would be extraordinary if it were to do so, and the DOJ is normally extremely tight-lipped on its criminal cases as well.
When it is not, it is behaving inappropriately. When it is not, you have rogue prosecutors like New York Attorney General Letitia James running around trying to update her case against Donald Trump or Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis shooting her mouth off about Donald Trump. What did we do when those prosecutors did that? We ripped them a new one because it is inappropriate.
Stop requesting or requiring the FBI or the DOJ update its evidence for you. You are not the target audience. They are trying to preserve the integrity of this case for when they get it in front of a jury, who are the only people who matter. I’m sorry, but their opinion is the only opinion that is going to matter in this case, and they will come to that opinion based on evidence that gets submitted to them. That evidence will have passed the rules of evidence, which are there to maintain the integrity of a case, the investigation, and the defendant’s constitutional rights. That is how our system works.
By the way, criminal prosecutors have an ethical obligation not to spout off about their evidence in the case. Rule 3.8 of the American Bar Associate (ABA) Model Rules restricts prosecutors from making extrajudicial statements that heighten public condemnation. Remember when Fani Willis did that with Donald Trump and his defense lawyers? She was spouting off about how race was at issue in this case. It was completely inappropriate, and we argued that, correctly, at the time.
I don’t know how we spun from that into, ‘We’re allowed to spew conspiracy theories about the case because the FBI is not saying anything.’ That is just not true. The rules are the same in all the cases, including this one.
Media Matters
Here is what happened in court on Thursday: Tyler Robinson went in there charged with, among other things, aggravated murder and felony use of a firearm. What they argued about was media rights, which is extremely important.
Neither the prosecution nor the defense are fighting for the media to be in there. The prosecutor has acknowledged we may have a limited right. Sorry, prosecutor, we have a full right. The media is the eyes and ears of the people. You are not going to keep the press out of this courtroom. You may succeed in keeping cameras out, though you shouldn’t because they are allowed in Utah. But you are not going to keep the press out of this courtroom. We have every right to be in there. This is a public proceeding.
There is a legal fight over whether the press is even going to be given notice of the hearings that concern the press’ right to be present at the hearings and the trial. They are not even sure we get to be there when they argue over our access rights. That is effed up, too.
We will see what Judge Tony Graf rules, but he is keeping a very tight lid on even those arguments right now and it is somewhat infuriating. There are issues of public access to this case that need to be protected, and if this judge rules that somehow the press must be excluded from anything other than sealed proceedings or things that must be kept under seal, he is going to be reversed.
The defense also asked Judge Graf to ban cameras from the courtroom completely, citing a “content tornado” that could permanently devastate the jury pool. We have had jury pools overwhelmed with information about cases for years, and we’ve managed it. There are ways of managing cameras in the courtroom. They were about to do this with Bryan Kohberger in Idaho, who, at that point, was much more infamous than Tyler Robinson.
There was an issue yesterday because the media inadvertently showed Tyler Robinson’s shackles, and there is a question about whether that is going to taint the jury pool (it will not). The media apologized for doing it. It was inadvertent. Potential jurors understand that the defendant is perceived as a potentially dangerous human because he is on trial for assassinating someone. Let’s not pretend the glimpse at his shackles changed anybody’s mind whatsoever about Tyler Robinson.
For what it’s worth, Erika Kirk has made clear she wants cameras in this courtroom. She points out that cameras captured her husband’s murder, and everyone has seen that video. Why would we not allow it here?
The Gag Order
The only issue that Judge Graf ruled on from the bench yesterday was clarifying his previous gag order that restricts people involved in the case from making public statements outside the courtroom.
While 3,000 people witnessed the murder, the judge said the only lay people under that gag are witnesses who the prosecution or defense believe they will call to testify. That should excuse most of the people who witnessed Charlie’s assassination, though not all. And only the people who have been contacted by law enforcement as potential witnesses know.
So, if you have been interviewed by law enforcement or have reason to believe you are going to be called at trial, you really shouldn’t be speaking to the media. And that would encompass some public names who are now in the national debate and under pressure to speak out but know something that, in some cases, the rest of us don’t know and are not free to fully talk about the events of that day.
Please keep that in mind as you assess what’s happening in this case.
Where the Case Stands
As I pointed out, Robinson was seen smiling in the courtroom. I certainly hope he doesn’t have reason to smile. I certainly hope he is not banking on people being confused about the overwhelming mountain of evidence against him.
Because let me tell you, those of us who are clear eyed on what is and is not admissible as proof – and that is really all we should be concerned with – see all evidence pointing directly to Tyler Robinson. My only question is: Who may have helped him, and who may have known about it prior to his arrest?
I really hope that the prosecution has no problem making that case.
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 1,212 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.